Configuring printer operation using colorant information on colorant units

ABSTRACT

A printer apparatus comprises one or more ports (2011 to 201M) for receiving one or more colorant units (INK1 to INKN), and a processing unit. The processing unit is adapted to determine which one or more colorant units (INK1 to INKN) have been loaded into the printer apparatus. The processing unit is adapted to retrieve colorant information from each loaded colorant unit (INK1 to INKN), and determine an ink-set configuration using the colorant information retrieved from each loaded colorant unit (INK1 to INKN). Operation of the printer apparatus is configured according to the determined colorant-set configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation of U.S. Application Ser. No.15/834,465 filed in the U.S Patent and Trademark Office on Dec. 7, 2017,which is a continuation of U.S. Application Ser. No. 14/762,790 filed inthe U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Jul. 22, 2015, which is a U.S.National Stage Application of and claims priority to InternationalPatent Application No. PCT/EP2013/051597, filed on Jan. 28, 2013, andentitled “PRINTER APPARATUS AND METHOD,” which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A printer apparatus is conventionally designed for use with a specificset of colorants (a colorant-set). For example, some ink-jet printersare designed for use with an ink-set comprising just a black inkcartridge in combination with a single color ink cartridge, while otherprinters are designed for a four-color printing process having fourindividual ink cartridges corresponding to black, cyan, magenta andyellow (known as CMYK), while other printer apparatus are specificallydesigned for a six-color printing process having four individual inkcartridges corresponding to black, cyan, magenta and yellow, plus lightdye load colorants corresponding to light-cyan and light-magenta (knownas CMYKcm). Other printer systems use additional ink cartridges, such asorange and green to further enhance the gamut of the printers. Otherprinting systems may additionally use one or multiple other spot colourssuch as specific Pantone colours or speciality inks such as metallicinks.

In each of these examples a particular printer apparatus is static indesign, in so far as the colorant-set used in a particular printerapparatus is determined when designing the printer, with thecolorant-set then determining which resources are used in that printer,both hardware and software resources (such as color maps and mediapresets, etc.). This means that a particular printer is only capable ofusing the colorant-set is was designed for.

SUMMARY

According to a first example there is provided a method for controllingthe operation of a printer apparatus. The method comprises the steps ofdetermining which one or more colorant units have been loaded into theprinter apparatus. Colorant information is retrieved from each loadedcolorant unit, and a colorant-set configuration determined using thecolorant information retrieved from each loaded colorant unit. Theoperation of the printer apparatus is configured according to thedetermined colorant-set configuration.

According to another example, there is provided a printer apparatuscomprising one or more ports for receiving one or more colorant units.The printer apparatus comprises a processing unit adapted to: determinewhich one or more colorant units have been loaded into the printerapparatus; retrieve colorant information from each loaded colorant unit;determine a colorant-set configuration using the colorant informationretrieved from each loaded colorant unit; and configure the operation ofthe printer apparatus (200) according to the determined ink-setconfiguration.

According to another example there is provided a colorant unit adaptedto store information that may be retrieved by a printer apparatus foridentifying one or more characteristics of one or more colorantscontained in the colorant unit. The colorant information provides datarelating to the constituent part that each colorant plays in an overallcolorant-set configuration for a printer apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding, and to show more clearly how the examplesdescribed below may be carried into effect, reference will now be made,by way of example only, to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a method according to a first example;

FIG. 2 shows a printer apparatus according to another example;

FIG. 3 shows a method according to another example;

FIG. 4 shows a method according to another example; and

FIG. 5 shows an ink cartridge according to an example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some examples illustrated below are described in relation to an ink-jetprinter apparatus that receives ink cartridges. It is noted, however,that the examples can be used with any type of printer apparatus orprinting technique (including laser printers, Liquid Electrophotographic(LEP) or digital press printers, Hewlett-Packard Indigo™ printers,xerography printers, offset press printers, thermal wax printers, dyetransfer printers, or any other type of printer). The examples may alsobe used with any type of colorant (for example ink, including liquid inkand dry ink, wax, powder, dye, toner or any other type of colorant). Theexamples described below are also intended to embrace a colorant beingstored in any form of colorant unit. For example, a colorant unit (orcolor station) may be configured to store a single colorant, or a singlecolorant in combination with a print head, or one or more colorants incombination with (or without) one or more print heads.

The examples described below provide a printer apparatus that enables avariety of colorant-set configurations to be used on the same printerapparatus. This has the advantage of enabling flexibility in the designof printers, and allows for post-introduction updates to be made. Forexample, in an ink-jet printer this enables new ink-sets to beintroduced (for example having different colored inks, differentconfigurations) for use with the printer apparatus, as well as mid-lifeupdates of the same-inks.

FIG. 1 shows a method according to a first example. The method comprisesthe step of determining which one or more colorant units, for exampleink cartridges, have been loaded into the printer apparatus, step 101.Colorant information (for example ink information) is retrieved fromeach loaded colorant unit, step 103. A colorant-set configuration (forexample an ink-set configuration) is determined using the colorantinformation retrieved from each loaded colorant unit, step 105. Theoperation of the printer apparatus is then configured according to thedetermined colorant-set configuration, step 107.

This has the advantage of providing a fully flexible system, for examplewhereby any ink-set configuration can be used by a particular ink-jetprinter, such that a printer can be adapted to work with any set of inkcolorants.

The examples enable a printer to be provided that can use either aCMYKcm configuration or a CMYK+dark Grey+light Grey configuration,depending on the needs and preferences of a particular customer.

It is noted that the printer apparatus can comprise any number of slotsor ports for receiving colorant units. For example, in an ink-jetprinter a plurality of slots may be provided for receiving a pluralityof ink cartridges. The ink cartridges may or may not comprise arespective print head. In another example, a laser printer may have aplurality of different colorants contained within a single colorantunit, for example a single toner cartridge. Other printer apparatus mayalso comprise different configurations of colorant unit(s), dependingupon the particular type of printer. As noted above, the examples areintended to be used with any type of printer, having any number of slotsor ports for receiving colorant unit(s).

It is noted that the printer apparatus can be configured to determine acolorant-set configuration (for example an ink-set configuration) basedon each slot or port being loaded with a corresponding colorant unit(such as an ink cartridge), or with one or more such slots or portsbeing empty (or filled with dummy colorant units or ink cartridges).

The colorant information retrieved from a respective colorant unitcomprises information relating to one or more characteristics of acolorant contained in the respective colorant unit. By providinginformation relating to the characteristics of the colorant, thisenables such information from each loaded colorant unit to be used incombination to determine the overall colorant-set configuration, andthus how the printer should be configured. The colorant informationprovided by each colorant unit effectively provides data relating to theconstituent part that each particular colorant plays in an overallcolorant-set configuration for a printer apparatus.

According to one example, a characteristic of a colorant comprises oneor more of reflectance information relating to the colorant,reflectivity information relating to the colorant, opacity informationrelating to the colorant, transmissivity information relating to thecolorant, information relating to a drop or particle weight of thecolorant, information relating to a drop or particle shape of thecolorant, or information relating to a drop or particle size of thecolorant.

For example, in an ink-jet printer a characteristic of a colorantcomprises one or more of ink colorant information, an ink reflectanceinformation, an ink reflectivity information, ink opacity information,ink transmissivity information, information relating to a drop weight ofan ink, information relating to a drop shape of an ink, or informationrelating to a drop size of an ink.

The step of configuring the operation of the printer apparatus maycomprise the step of configuring a hardware and/or firmware and/orsoftware resource of the printer apparatus according to the determinedcolorant-set configuration.

According to one example configuring the operation of the printerapparatus comprises the step of computing a new color separation for thedetermined colorant-set configuration.

For example, given the colorant information (such as ink information)retrieved from the available colorant units (for example inkcartridges), a set-up chart is printed and measured (if suchcapabilities are available in a particular printer) and based on theresults of the measurements a computation of a printing pipeline isset-up. The computation of the pipeline can be carried out eitherlocally or remotely, or a combination of both. Such a procedure can becarried out when the colorant information contained in the colorantunits is comparatively limited (for example when only drop or particleweight information is available, so that operation of the printerapparatus can respect a colorant limit approximately) but still enable apipeline from any colorant-set to be configured correctly.

According to one example, the step of determining a colorant-setconfiguration comprises the steps of comparing the colorant informationfrom the colorant unit or units loaded in the printer apparatus with apredetermined set of valid colorant-set configurations, and configuringthe operation of the printer apparatus only if the colorant-setconfiguration matches one of the predetermined set.

This example provides a simpler solution whereby a predetermined set ofvalid colorant configurations are possible, which can save computationin the printer because the configuration parameters for each of thelimited set of colorant-set configurations can be carried out inadvance.

The step of configuring the operation of the printer apparatus maycomprise the step of communicating with a remote entity, and receivinginformation from the remote entity for configuring at least part of theoperation of the printer apparatus.

In such an example part or all of the computation is carried outsomewhere other than the printer itself, such as a cloud/web interface.This has the advantage of not having to rely on the more limitedprocessing power of the printer itself to determine the operation of theprinter for a new colorant-set configuration.

Depending on the loaded colorant unit(s), the printer apparatusrecognizes the valid colorant-set configuration and determines theappropriate resources to be used. Furthermore, given a computationallybuilt pipeline such as a Halftone Area Neugebauer Separation (HANS)pipeline, the information on the colorant unit could directly pertain tothe characteristics of the colorant (for example reflectance, opacity,drop or particle weight, or other characteristic of the colorant) andallow for a fully configurable set-up whereby, based on the colorantinformation retrieved from all loaded colorant units, a new colorseparation is computed. As will be well understood, Halftone AreaNeugebauer Separation (HANS) is a color separation and halftoningparadigm in which Neugebauer Primary area coverage (NPac) spaceseparation (for example optimized for minimum use or colorant) andhalftoning is used as a printing process.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a printer apparatus 200 according to anotherexample. The printer apparatus comprises one or more ports 201 ₁ to 201_(M) for receiving one or more colorant units COLORANT_(1-N) (forexample one or more ink cartridges). The printer apparatus 200 comprisesa processing unit 203 that is adapted to determine which one or morecolorant units COLORANT_(1-N) have been loaded into the printerapparatus 200. The processing unit is adapted to retrieve colorantinformation (for example ink information) from each loaded colorantunit, and determine a colorant-set configuration using the colorantinformation retrieved from each loaded colorant unit COLORANT_(1-N). Theoperation of the printer apparatus 200 is configured according to thedetermined colorant-set configuration.

As mentioned above, the colorant information retrieved from a colorantunit may comprise information relating to one or more characteristics ofa colorant, including one or more of reflectance information relating tothe colorant, reflectivity information relating to the colorant, opacityinformation relating to the colorant, transmissivity informationrelating to the colorant, information relating to a drop or particleweight of a colorant ink, information relating to a drop or particleshape of a colorant, or information relating to a drop or particle sizeof a colorant. It is noted that other characteristics may also be used,without departing from the scope of the examples.

For an ink-jet printer for example, the one or more characteristicscomprise ink reflectance information, ink reflectivity information, inkopacity information, ink transmissivity information, informationrelating to a drop weight of an ink, information relating to a dropshape of an ink, or information relating to a drop size of an ink.

Although the number of colorant units (for example ink cartridges) N maymatch the number of available slots (or ports) M in the printerapparatus, as noted above the examples can be configured to determine acolorant-set configuration when N is less than M, or when dummy colorantunits are loaded into certain slots. This enables a printer apparatus tohave more slots than are necessarily needed when the printer isdesigned, so that more colorant units (and hence colorants) can beintroduced for use with the printer apparatus at a later date. Also,this enables a printer apparatus to be used with a first number ofcolorant units during a first mode for operation, for example by oneuser, and a second number of colorant units used during a second mode ofoperation, for example by a different user, or when a particular userrequires a different quality of printing.

According to one example, the processing unit 203 is adapted toconfigure a hardware and/or firmware and/or software resource of theprinter apparatus according to the determined colorant-setconfiguration.

The processing unit 203 may be adapted to compute a new color separationfor the colorant-set configuration according to the determinedcolorant-set configuration.

According to one example the processing unit 203 is adapted to comparethe colorant information from the colorant unit or units loaded into theprinter apparatus with a predetermined set of valid colorant-setconfigurations, and configure the operation of the printer only if thecolorant-set configuration matches one of the predetermined set.

Referring to FIG. 3, in step 301 colorant information received fromcolorant units loaded into the printer apparatus is compared with apredetermined set of valid colorant-set configurations. The validcolorant-set configurations may comprise a set of colorant-setconfigurations which the printer apparatus has previously beenconfigured to operate with. In step 303 the method comprises the step ofdetermining whether the loaded colorant-set configuration matches one ofthe predetermined set of colorant-set configurations. If so, theoperation of the printer apparatus is configured accordingly, step 305.

With such an example the predetermined colorant-set configurationsenable the operation of the printer apparatus to be configured withoutcomplex computation. In other words, the printer apparatus, or a remoteentity, has previously computed how the printer apparatus should beconfigured for each of the possible valid colorant-set configurations,such that the printer is then able to compare which of these matches theloaded colorant set configuration, and adapt the operation of theprinter accordingly.

In the event that the loaded colorant-set configuration does not matchany of the predetermined set of valid colorant-set configurations, theprinter apparatus may have the option of computing parameters forconfiguring the operation of the printer, step 307. This may involvecomputation or processing carried out at the printer apparatus itselfand/or at a remote entity.

The processing unit 203 can also be adapted to communicate with a remoteentity, and adapted to receive information from the remote entity forconfiguring at least part of the operation of the printer apparatus.

FIG. 4 shows the method steps that are performed by such an example. Instep 401 the printer apparatus communicates the colorant-setconfiguration it has determined to a remote entity, such as a host unitconnected via the internet, or a cloud based entity. The remote entityis then able to compute whatever complex data processing may be neededto determine how the printer apparatus needs to be reconfigured. Forexample, the remote entity may need to compute new printer driversoftware. The printer apparatus then receives information from theremote entity, step 403, for configuring at least part of the operationof the printer apparatus.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a colorant unit 500 according to anotherexample. The colorant unit 500 is adapted to store information 503 thatmay be retrieved by a printer apparatus for identifying one or morecharacteristics of one or more colorants contained in the colorant unit.In particular, the colorant information 503 provides data relating tothe constituent part that each colorant plays in an overall colorant-setconfiguration for a printer apparatus.

The colorant information 503 comprises information relating to thecharacteristics of a colorant contained in the colorant unit, includingone or more of reflectance information relating to the colorant,reflectivity information relating to the colorant, opacity informationrelating to the colorant, transmissivity information relating to thecolorant, information relating to a drop or particle weight of acolorant, information relating to a drop or particle shape of acolorant, or information relating to a drop or particle size of acolorant. Data relating to other characteristics of the colorant mayalso be stored in the colorant unit, or indeed any other form of data.

The examples described above have the advantage of allowing the appealof a single printer to be broadened to a wider market segment. Forexample, in an ink-jet printer this enables different quality ink-setsto be used on the same type of printer by different users, depending onthe quality of printing required by a particular user.

The examples embed additional information in the colorant units, such asink cartridges or color stations, in order to determine the loadedconfiguration of a particular colorant-set, and the consequent use ofresources seamlessly.

This has the advantage of enabling a printer design whereby the set ofcolorants loaded into the printer determines the resources to be used(for example if these are from a predetermined set of possible colorantconfigurations, or generates them in the cloud or locally) with nodirect constraint as to what configuration is possible. For example, aCMYK configuration could be used for a fast setup while CMYKRG could beused for maximum spot-color coverage or improved ink usage, andCMYK+lightGray+darkGray for best grayscale printing. The examples areable to provide such functionality in view of each colorant unitcontaining information pertaining to the colorant it contains, be it thereflectance (or reflectivity), opacity (or transmissivity), or othercharacteristic of the colorant. This enables the printer apparatus(and/or remote entity) to determine full Neugebauer Primary colorimetryvia a Kubleka/Munk model for example, or additionally drop or particleweight, shape, size etc., information which can be used to further tunea general set of resources.

This information can be both used as selectors in the sense that theysimply determine which resources to use as well as validate the colorantunits, or more comprehensively, they can be values that are parametersfor a computation of actual resources to be used with these colorants.Coupling this functionality with a web connected printer also means thatdeploying new custom colorant-configurations is straight-forward. It ispossible to announce a new “valid” configuration, or introduce a singlenew colorant (for example a new ink, whereby a customer buys a new inkcartridge), and whereby the printer recognizes it and computes and/ordownloads any resources needed in addition to the parameters read fromthe ink-cartridge itself. A cloud/web interface can be used to performthe computation of the color resources on powerful servers instead ofthe printer apparatus itself (according to some examples), deliveringtrue flexibility and improved user experience that does not mean havingto wait for the computation on slow/weak hardware in the printer.

The features provided by the examples can be deployed globally, but alsoprovides flexibility to develop custom solutions for large customers orusers, such as adding one (or more) additional colorants in order tosuit corporate spot-color coverage for a given customer. It will beappreciated that if a configuration of a printer is being changed fromone to another, the printer apparatus may need to flush colorants andclean pens or heads from the previous colorant configuration, beforeoperating under the new configuration.

The examples have the advantage of delivering a single printer withvarious colorant-sets (instead of having to deliver them as separateprinters). It is also possible to provide a close, explicit tie betweena colorant-set loaded in a printer apparatus and the resources needed touse them (a form of “smart” colorant unit or ink-cartridge). Thisprovides the flexibility to deliver new colorant configurationspost-introduction of a printer apparatus, and the flexibility to delivercustom colorant-configurations for large customers, or flexibility tocouple arbitrary colorant-configurations with on-line or cloudcomputation of color resources (e.g. a customer loads Cyan, Black, lightGray, dark Gray and Silver inks, the printer reads the parameters fromthe ink-cartridges and either computes pipeline resources locally oruploads them to a cloud service that computes them—which can beespecially relevant for a HANS-pipeline).

As mentioned above, the examples can be employed in a printer apparatushaving any number of slots or ports for receiving colorant units. Inaddition, the examples can be used in a printer apparatus that comprisesa certain number of slots, for example 10 slots/ports for receivingcolorant units, but with colorant units only being loaded into a sub-setof these slots, for example 6 of these slots in one mode, and thecolorant-set configuration determined accordingly (or 8 inserted duringa different mode, and the colorant-set configuration re-determinedaccordingly). Some examples may apply certain constraints as to whichslots can be used in conjunction (for example to optimise the use ofprint-heads, some of which may use multiple colorants).

It is noted that the operation of the printer can also be reconfiguredif one of the colorant units becomes empty or low on a particularcolorant(s). In such an arrangement the printer apparatus can bereconfigured as if one of the colorants or colorant units is missing (ornot loaded in the first place), and a colorant-set configurationdetermined for the new set of colorants or colorant units. Thisoperation can be performed either automatically or manually upon aparticular colorant unit becoming empty. Instead of N colorants thatneed to be configured, if one runs out it effectively becomes a systemwith N-1 colorants that need reconfiguring. It will be appreciated that,in practice, such an embodiment may have certain limitations imposed, asa particular colorant running out may result in a loss of colour gamut(or other characteristics) and therefore the inability to print content.For example, if a printer apparatus is a CMYK printer where “m” runsout, it is possible to dynamically reconfigure the pipeline to printwith CYK, but certain colours may not print very well, whereas withanother example if in a CMYKcm system where “c” runs out, it should bepossible to continue relatively seamlessly with a reconfigured pipeline.

Information from the colorant units is therefore used to dynamicallyconfigure the operation of the printer on the fly, rather than beingpreset during the manufacture of the printer. Such reconfiguration isdifferent from the limitations of the constrained use of existing spotcolors, since known spot color systems must know in advance the specificspot colors that can be used in a particular printer apparatus, ratherthan determining in real time what colorants have been loaded into theprinter, determining the colorant-set configuration, and thenconfiguring the operation of the printer accordingly. The examplesenable a previously unknown colorant of an unknown color to be used as aprocess colorant, i.e. to be freely combined with the other colorants.Spot colors can also be used seamlessly for any content, thereforegiving access to a larger gamut or extended domain of image qualityproperties such as grain, in addition to using a spot color as itsintended purpose as a spot color. This also enables the lack of one ofthe basic inks, for example cyan, to be replaced by using a spot colorink, for example blue, and doing so computationally and dynamically bydetermining a new colorant-set configuration, and adapting the operationof the printer accordingly.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned examples illustrate ratherthan limit the concepts described herein, and that those skilled in theart will be able to design many alternative examples without departingfrom the scope of the appended claims. The word “comprising” does notexclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in aclaim, “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality, and a single processoror other unit may fulfil the functions of several units recited in theclaims. Any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed so asto limit their scope.

1. A colorant unit comprising: a container for one or more colorants; aninformation storage device attached to the container; an interface toprovide communication between the information storage device and aprinter apparatus; the information storage device comprising informationthat identifies one or more characteristics of one or more colorantscontained in the container of the colorant unit including data relatingto a constituent part that each colorant plays in an overallcolorant-set configuration for the printer apparatus.
 2. The colorantunit of claim 1, wherein the information further comprises reflectanceinformation relating to the one or more colorants.
 3. The colorant unitof claim 1, wherein the information further comprises reflectanceinformation relating to the one or more colorants.
 4. The colorant unitof claim 1, wherein the information further comprises reflectivityinformation relating to the one or more colorants.
 5. The colorant unitof claim 1, wherein the information further comprises opacityinformation relating to the one or more colorants.
 6. The colorant unitof claim 1, wherein the information further comprises transmissivityinformation relating to the one or more colorants.
 7. The colorant unitof claim 1, wherein the information further comprises informationrelating to a drop or particle weight of the one or more colorants. 8.The colorant unit of claim 1, wherein the information further comprisesinformation relating to a drop or particle shape of the one or morecolorants.
 9. The colorant unit of claim 1, wherein the informationfurther comprises information relating to a drop or particle size of theone or more colorants.
 10. The colorant unit of claim 1, wherein thecolorant is any one of liquid ink, dry ink, wax, powder, dye and toner.11. The colorant unit of claim 1, wherein the information comprises datato configure a hardware resource of the printing apparatus according tothe overall colorant-set configuration.